Man Group plc Makes New Investment in Viasat Inc. $VSAT

Man Group plc purchased a new stake in Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 143,742 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $12,909,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Viasat during the second quarter worth $30,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Viasat by 935.3% in the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 352 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Viasat during the second quarter valued at $43,000. Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new stake in shares of Viasat during the second quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Viasat during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. 86.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on VSAT. Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 target price on shares of Viasat in a report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Friday, July 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $97.00 price objective on shares of Viasat in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Zacks Research raised shares of Viasat from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Barclays set a $49.00 target price on shares of Viasat in a research note on Friday, May 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viasat presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.67.

Viasat Trading Up 1.7%

NASDAQ VSAT opened at $72.73 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $10.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -303.04 and a beta of 1.72. Viasat Inc. has a 12 month low of $26.10 and a 12 month high of $93.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.52. The company has a 50-day moving average of $75.26 and a 200-day moving average of $64.26.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.34). Viasat had a positive return on equity of 1.44% and a negative net margin of 0.64%.The company had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.02) earnings per share. Viasat’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Viasat Inc. will post -0.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Viasat

In other Viasat news, Director Richard A. Baldridge sold 223,542 shares of Viasat stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.62, for a total value of $18,021,956.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Benjamin Edward Palmer sold 2,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.46, for a total transaction of $181,104.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 21,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,596,658.14. This represents a 10.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 675,861 shares of company stock valued at $47,705,388 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Viasat

Viasat, Inc (NASDAQ: VSAT) provides high‐capacity satellite broadband and wireless communications services to consumer, commercial and government customers worldwide. The company designs and operates satellite systems and network infrastructure to deliver secure, high-speed connectivity across remote and underserved regions, as well as managed networking solutions for enterprises and public sector agencies.

Viasat’s product offerings include residential and enterprise satellite internet services, in-flight connectivity for commercial airlines and business jets, and secure networking platforms tailored to defense and intelligence users.